


What happened to Starscream?

by turbineface



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Gen, Post War AU, Post-Predacons Rising (Prime Movie), he ends up working as an archivist, life is hard for the cons, maybe a bit of ko x ss later on, some sort of a starscream redemption AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28240602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turbineface/pseuds/turbineface
Summary: Damaged, surrounded by autobots, and with no memory of how he got there, Starscream has to learn to adapt to the new circumstances. With Knockout by his side, it shouldn't be so hard, even if it seems like the medic hasn't told him everything.(Aka, a post war AU that touches on what could have happened if Starscream didn't defeat the predacons.)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 47





	1. It begins with the end

**Author's Note:**

> hello!  
> first time posting here, and also my first fic, so go easy on me (・・;  
> apologies if some parts of this seem janky, english isn't my first language,,  
> i'll try to update this fic weekly, but we'll see what actually comes of my schedule  
> you can find more info about this AU on my [instagram account](https://www.instagram.com/turbineface/), like starscream's design and a short summary of the plot
> 
> also, i figured i'd throw in a general tw for this chapter for depictions of injury/gore  
> that's enough of rambling for today though, so enjoy the show!!

It had been a long night, to say the least. Almost everything that you could think of had happened, and to say that you would have needed to be there to truly believe it all would be.. an understatement. Who would have guessed that the decepticon warlord Megatron would be resurrected by Unicron himself, only to use the poor bot as a vessel, and then proceed to create an army of undead predacons to destroy the newly revived Cybertron once and for all? And, as the cherry on top, once he had regained control of himself and cast Unicron out of his mind, the oh-so-glorious Megatron had declared that the decepticons were no more. It was insane. The former air commander Starscream could hardly believe it himself.  
In one night, Starscream had lost everything. He had lost his spot among the decepticons, he had lost his value, he’d lost the only bot he had considered to be his first, true friend in _thousands _of years.. He’d lost all he lived for. His master had abandoned everything, and everyone, who believed in him and his word. It made the seeker feel utterly hopeless. It didn’t help how that’s all he could think of as he soared through the air. He didn’t know where he was headed at first. Well, it’s not like he had many places to go anymore. Surely, the victorious autobots would try to find him again, lock him up and leave him to rust in a jail cell somewhere, or perhaps even execute him. He couldn’t think of any safe place he could go to, except for.. Darkmount.__

____Starscream flew straight to the top of the fortress, transforming, and coming to a skidding halt at nearly the center of the open space. His gaze immediately went to the throne in the middle of the structure, and a brilliant thought came to his mind. His master might have left him, and every other decepticon out there behind, but that didn’t mean the cause had to die. After all, he was still alive. And he most certainly was more than capable of leading the decepticons on his own.  
“This is not quite how I envisioned my rise to the throne,” the silver seeker mused as he walked toward the throne with renewed confidence, “but since lord Megatron all but surrendered it to me, I will gladly revive the decepticons in my name.”  
He gestured at the giant seat in front of him, as if he had an audience. Before he could do or say anything else though, he heard a familiar sound behind him. A sound that struck terror in his spark. Wings, large ones at that, flapping steadily behind him. His whole frame slumped out of pure anxiety as he prepared to turn around and face the source of that awful noise.  
It couldn’t be him, right? He had to be terribly mistaken.  
Starscream cautiously turned around, and much to his disappointment, he was right. Oh, Primus, how he wished he wasn’t..  
He yelped softly as his eyes met the large form of Predaking, who had landed just a few feet from him. And as if Primus had decided to really mess with the seeker that night, the clone wasn’t alone. He was accompanied by the two younger predacons, Darksteel and Skylynx, who landed at his sides.  
Starscream could tell they weren’t there to crown him as the new emperor.  
“Though, perhaps a throne is more befitting of an actual king,” he continued with a nervous chuckle, stepping back to give Predaking access to the throne, and to keep himself out of the beast’s way.  
Perhaps offering the role of leader would appease the obviously irritated predacon. Hell, if he got lucky, he could maybe even live as his pet. It may not have been the fate he was always destined for, but it most definitely was a better one than dying at the claws of fire breathing monsters. However, Predaking didn’t seem pleased.  
He transformed swiftly, and wasted no time approaching the fearful seeker.  
  
“I am not here to seize thrones, Starscream,” he explained, his tone cold and harsh, almost similar to the tone Megatron occasionally used while disciplining his treacherous second in command.  
“But to settle scores.”  
By now, the three of them had cornered Starscream, who was cowering and whimpering in terror on the throne.  
This wasn’t how it was supposed to end! It wasn’t supposed to end at all! He was supposed to be the greatest, the most fearsome ruler in the entire galaxy. Now, all he could do was pray his end would be swift. Although that most likely was too much to ask from the predacons.  
He could barely hold back the choked cries for mercy as the first set of claws dug into his armor._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____The previous night had certainly been a lot to take in, especially for the autobots. Not only had they witnessed the resurrection of Megatron, but also his retreat, and the eventual death of Optimus Prime. One of the strangest things had to have been how the three predacon clones had come to assist them that night, and how they had left just as suddenly when the smoke cleared. They hadn’t seen them, or any other decepticons after that.  
This was one of the reasons why the remaining autobots had agreed to go scout the vicinity of the well of all sparks. Sure, maybe it was mainly Ultra Magnus’ idea, and maybe he had demanded the rest do as he says, but deep down they all knew it wasn’t the worst suggestion they had heard in the last few dozen cycles. Better safe than sorry, right?_ _ _ _

____They had been divided into groups of two and three, and much to his relief, Bumblebee had been paired with Bulkhead. Missions with the wrecker usually seemed to go relatively smoothly, not only because he was an efficient soldier, and because the two of them made an excellent pair, but also because he was usually quite laid back. He wasn’t as talkative as Smokescreen for example, or as uptight as Ultra Magnus. The commander had certainly gotten a tad softer over time, but Bee still preferred working with bots he had been friends with for a longer while.  
Though, today, both of them were.. tense. They had been assigned to go search Darkmount. Perhaps this wouldn’t have been so bad if they hadn’t encountered a wrathful Megatron-Unicron, _or Megacron as Smokescreen had dubbed him _, earlier on top of that same fortress. Bumblebee wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of seeing Megatron’s looming, rusty, spiky figure again. He wasn’t certain if the warlord really had a change of spark, or if he was just faking it to get out of trouble, and he didn’t really want to find out either. He was sure Bulkhead felt the same, judging by how unusually quiet he was on the drive to Darkmount, and how he’d kept glancing around nervously the moment they transformed at the front entrance of the tower.  
Luckily, the bottom floors of the building were empty. Everything looked untouched, aside from the damage they had caused earlier while fleeing from Megatron. It didn’t even seem like Shockwave had returned to retrieve anything. Now, all they had to do was search the throne room, and they could return to their makeshift base.  
“So,” Bee started as they made their way to an elevator, “you think we’re gonna find Megatron up there? Or maybe even Starscream?”  
Bulkhead turned to look at the smaller bot, a brief look of shocked confusion on his face. It took him a moment to respond to Bumblebee’s question, a moment he used to press a button on the side of the elevator.  
“I hope we never see either one of them, that’s what I think,” he muttered and promptly turned away from Bee. It seemed like the black and yellow bot’s attempt to lighten the mood hadn’t worked in the slightest. He cleared his throat and awkwardly shuffled in place as they waited for the elevator.___ _ _ _

______The ride to the top wasn’t any less awkward. Both of them kept glancing at each other nervously. This tension surely would dissolve when they’d step into the open room and find absolutely nothing there. Then, they’d joke about how awkward it was, and see if they could find any high grade anywhere..  
The elevator came to a sudden stop at the top of the building. The doors slid open, and the pair stepped out hesitantly. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There was no Megatron waiting for unsuspecting autobots, or any sign of the predacons. However, there were splotches of energon and tiny pieces of metal littering the floor. Suspicious, Bulk slowly made his way to the throne, blaster pointing down. Bumbleblee followed the green wrecker closely, wishing he had kept his mouth shut about potentially finding someone there. The room was mostly like how they had left it, except for.. a larger trail of energon leading to the space behind the chair.  
And then, in the choking silence, they heard a pained, almost silent groan.  
They rushed to the back of the throne, weapons pointed forward. What they were met by was.. not what they had expected to see. Not by a long shot.  
There, in the warm morning light, slumped against the back of the throne, was Starscream. Or at least what was left of him. The condition he was in was terrible to say the least. _ _ _ _ _ _

______His wings were horribly damaged, ripped to shreds. Barely anything remained of them, aside from scarred, bleeding stumps that were now splayed out behind him. His head had multiple, smaller cuts and gashes all over it, the most notable one being a rip in the protoflesh on his face, directly under his left optic. An optic that seemed to be offline, while the other one was flickering on and off sporadically. The rest of him wasn't in better condition either. He was missing his entire right arm, and the left one was badly damaged.  
It seemed like whoever attacked him had tried to pry his chest plates open, judging by the elongated gashes on his chest. The exterior of his left leg was mauled as well, not to mention the cuts on the insides of his thighs. To top that, he had a wound on the left side of his neck, which was profusely leaking energon. The seeker was barely clinging to life._ _ _ _ _ _

__________Bulkhead gasped in surprise and took a step back, while Bee just gawked at the mangled remains of the decepticon. They stood there for what seemed like hours, until Bulkhead finally managed to raise his hand to the side of his head and activated his comm link.  
  
“Ratchet? Prepare the med bay. We found Starscream.” 


	2. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, scouting hasn't been terrible for everyone.  
> Knockout was enjoying spending time with his assigned partner, Arcee, until Ratchet contacted him.  
> They'd found Starscream. It wasn't the news he wanted to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's finally here!! i've been dummy excited to write more uhnnnh  
> i'll most likely be updating again this week so stay tuned for that (*・∀-)☆  
> and of course, mandatory apology for any odd or janky parts is mandatory  
> now on with it!!

What a ride it had been for the past couple of days.  
Perhaps calling it a ride was an understatement, but to Knockout, it was a perfect description. He could even say it had been the best ride of his life.  
He had never really cared for the war, and he was more than happy to know it was over, and for good this time. In the beginning stages, he’d tried to avoid it for as long as he could, but when it came time to pick a side, he went with the winning team. The winning team that had slowly crumbled around him over the years, and all the cherry red doctor did was watch.

Things were different now, he thought as he rummaged through a crate of supplies. The war was over, the Prime was dead, and he had finally been allowed to assist the other autobots in restoring their homeworld, and the works.  
They had formed search parties earlier that morning. Ultra Magnus had decided it was the best course of action, and Knockout and the others had agreed begrudgingly.  
He’d been paired off with Arcee to go and retrieve any supplies, preferably of the medical kind, from a nearby decepticon outpost. So far, they had no issues working with one another. Actually, Knockout was pleased to admit that he and the two wheeler had overcome their differences and past hatred, and might even be on their way to becoming friends. He supposed it was his charm. No one could resist it, or him.

“Why do you think your commander sent us out here? I mean no offense when I say this, but I doubt you, or I for that matter, can carry that many supplies. Honestly, it would have been a lot easier if he’d paired me with the wrecker, erm, Bulkhead, was it?” Knockout asked his partner as he pulled a tool from the crate. It looked like the severed end of a cortical psychic patch. Maybe Shockwave had worked there once. It wasn’t like he knew, nor was it his business.  
“I think Ratchet and Ultra Magnus didn’t want to leave you there alone,” Arcee replied from the other side of the small, dusty room.  
“I don’t think they trust you. And, maybe Bulk was needed elsewhere. We didn’t really stick around to find out, did we.”  
“What? Does Magnus think I’ll sabotage _our _base while you’re out here? Maybe get the vehicons to change sides again and,” Knockout paused to laugh, “take over the planet, turn it into a new Velocitron? Absurd!”  
Arcee couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of that. She had to admit, it was kind of ridiculous how strict they were being with Knockout. He hadn’t done anything that’d imply he’d go against them, but then again he was a decent liar. Definitely not as good, or convincing, as Starscream, but you’d had to have something off in your processor to be as good as he was.  
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, you’ve convinced me of your change. The whole capturing of Starscream on the Nemesis sold it for me,” she replied, turning briefly to look at the crouched medic across the room. For once, she had a genuine, warm smile on her face, as if thinking back to the previous night was pleasant for her.  
It wasn’t pleasant for Knockout.  
He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt in his spark when he had to think of that.  
It wasn’t his fault. He had to capture Starscream. Overthrow him, if you will. If he hadn’t done it then, someone else would have done it in the future.  
“Yes, well, thank you Arcee. Would you mind if we get back to the task at hand?”  
“Yes. Yes, of course,” she mumbled, taken aback by how quickly his mood had shifted.__

__They managed to work in silence for a good few minutes, the quiet only broken by Arcee asking whether or not they’d be needing a tool she found, and couldn’t exactly figure out its purpose. That is until Knockout’s private comm frequency went off.  
“Knockout? Are you and Arcee still at the outpost?”  
It was Ratchet. And for whatever reason, the old bot sounded.. worried. Almost frantic.  
“What, did the commander finally succumb to his injuries?” Knockout replied with a snicker.  
“Knockout! Please, for the love of Primus, could you try to be serious for once in your life?” Ratchet’s voice hissed back at him.  
“It’s.. Bulkhead and Bumblebee have returned with Starscream. He’s in urgent need of medical attention.”  
Starscream. The rest of the senior medic’s words barely even registered after that. Starscream was alive, but wounded?  
“Arcee, grab as much spare energon as you can. We need to go, now,” Knockout commanded, swiftly getting up and turning to look at the other bot.  
“What's wrong? Someone hurt?” she questioned.  
“I’ll explain on the way back.”_ _

__

__It had been five days since they’d dragged the mess that somewhat resembled Starscream into their base. He’d babbled nonsense for a cycle or two after his arrival, delirious and on the verge of death, until he finally passed out. At first, Ratchet and Knockout thought he’d die shortly after, but by insane luck, the seeker’s spark kept beating. Though, he hadn’t woken yet. Knockout couldn’t help but wonder if he’d be stuck like this forever, like how Megatron had once been.  
Maybe it was a blessing that he’d passed out without having to be medically put under. Ratchet hypothesized anesthesia could kill him. A hypothesis which neither of the medics wanted to test.  
The condition Starscream was in was.. horrible. Needless to say, he was in dire need of full body repairs. Repairs that the autobots weren’t too willing to do at first.  
Luckily, Knockout was able to convince them to work with him. All it really took was to ask them what their beloved Prime, bless his spark, would have done in that situation. That shut them up quickly, and they all shortly came to the same conclusion:  
He’d want the seeker to survive. If Megatron had changed, then so could the former air commander. Come to think of it, he was definitely the lesser of two evils. It’d certainly be a lot easier to get him to change sides.  
And so began the repairs.  
The two wreckers, Wheeljack and Bulkhead, had been hauling in resources from that very outpost Knockout and Arcee had been to for a good few cycles, until the medics were sure they had enough materials to begin.  
Crafting entirely new arms and wings for the poor seeker had been painstaking, but by the end of the third day, the two of them had done an excellent job. Sure, his wings were wider than before, his slim frame was covered in scars, and he’d surely have to scan a new alt mode to fit this new form, but it certainly was an improvement. He looked almost good as new, except for his face. The scar under his optic wasn't something either medic was qualified to repair. He’d have to get it fixed later on, if he ever woke up.  
Though, Knockout couldn’t exactly get over how the other autobots, especially Ultra Magnus, had requested Starscream would remain unarmed. It didn’t seem quite fair, but it wasn’t exactly anything he could refuse to go through with._ _

__Another thing that seemed unfair was how Knockout felt.. guilty.  
He felt as if it was his fault that this had happened to the arrogant seeker.  
It wasn’t! It wasn’t his fault how Starscream had always been so rude to everyone he met, and how he’d usually turn acquaintances into enemies. Something like this was bound to happen. Actually, the cherry red bot was surprised this hadn’t happened sooner.  
He deserved it, yes. He deserved this miserable fate for being such a terrible person for thousands of years.  
But, if he truly believed that, why did his spark ache whenever those thoughts crossed his mind?_ _

__He’d caught himself thinking of how this fate was right for the seeker in the middle of checking on his vitals. He’d just stopped in his tracks when his eyes caught the still body of the seeker. He was so.. quiet. Serene. Like he was just recharging after a long day.  
It felt horribly wrong. Honestly, he missed the seeker’s endless commentary. How odd. It wasn't something he ever thought he'd miss.  
“Why do I feel so guilty for your mishaps, commander? Do you think you could answer that question for me?” he pondered aloud, slightly leaning over Starscream. No response came from him, as expected.  
He stared at the other for a minute, before returning to his tasks. Another, boring evening, he figured, adjusting the seeker’s energon intake ever so slightly.._ _

__

__Why was it so bright?  
It was stupid how that was Starscream’s first, comprehensible thought in.. How long had it been? Ah, yes. He must have dozed off while working again. Curse his poor recharge patterns.  
But if that was the case, why was he on his back? Why was there a window in front of him? He didn’t have windows in his quarters back on the Nemesis. Where was he?  
And why did everything look off? Something was wrong with the coloring of the entire place. Even the patterns on the wall were wrong.  
Oh, but there was something familiar. He could hear voices, though it sounded like they were far from him.  
Damn it, why was it so bright? His eyes strained and he groaned softly. Well, attempted to groan. All that came out was a hoarse, dry whisper, like he hadn’t spoken in a vorn.  
The lighting of the room grew bearable when a form came into his field of vision. A familiar form.  
Knockout? Oh, that made a lot of sense. He must have done something wrong again, and Megatron had knocked some sense into him. Or, perhaps knocked it out of him. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember anything from yesterday. When had that been anyway?  
Starscream parted his lips again, attempting to ask the good doctor how long he had been out for, until..  
Another bot, right behind Knockout. Navy blue, short, pink accents.. Arcee!  
He shot up, both arms pointed at the autobot. His face twisted into a scowl, though it quickly turned into an agonized grimace.  
Pain shot through his body. Unimaginable pain, like he had been run over by a shuttle. His vision vent to static for a moment and his head spun. What had happened to him?  
“-scream? Starscream, are you alright? Lay down, please,” another voice spoke somewhere to his left. He didn’t need to be told twice, and slumped back onto the cold medical slab underneath him, his optics offlining.  
“The autobot.. Knockout,” he whimpered, as if his barely audible warning would save his best friend from being attacked.  
“You don’t need to worry about them, Starscream. The war is over, remember? They won’t hurt you,” Knockout, assumably, replied.  
The war is over? What did he mean by that?  
The seeker’s eyes opened again, and he focused his blurry vision on Knockout.  
“The war-” he was interrupted by a short lived coughing fit, “the war is not over, you fool. Are.. Are we hostages?”  
Knockout slowly turned to face him. He almost looked concerned. It didn’t look good on him.  
“Hostages? Starscream, Megatron left us. Don’t you remember?” he asked, inching closer to the pained seeker.  
“Megatron.. Where is he? Where are _we _?” Starscream croaked. His response didn’t seem to sit well with the medic.  
“We’re on Cybertron. We’re home. Ratchet, what is this?”___ _

____Oh, dear. He felt like he was about to faint._ _ _ _


	3. Exploring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The med bay is almost like a dusty, old dungeon.  
> Luckily, there's much to explore outside of the small room, and the medics aren't going to hold him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> says I'll update again this week, does so on sunday  
> disappointing (. .)  
> buut it's here now, chapter 3, the mother of all dialogue
> 
> extra apologies this time for my poor descriptions of the environment  
> also including a little spoiler at the end for starscream's vision related problems
> 
> anywayyyy on with the show!!

There was something wrong with Starscream.  
At this point it wasn’t speculation, or petty gossip. There was something wrong with his processor.  
His attacker had been much rougher than the two medics first thought. He wasn’t sure about Ratchet, but Knockout certainly had damn near prayed the damage would only be external, minus a few punctured organs here and there of course. Unfortunately, if there was a higher power out there, it hadn’t listened.  
That wasn’t the end of his internal damages though. When Starscream was first brought into the base, Ratchet had mentioned some possible, long-term damage to his eyes. They’d both wondered if Starscream would end up being blind in the left eye, considering how it refused to work at all, but they had been proven wrong that day.  
When he first opened his eyes, it was apparent his internal repair systems had been at work. Both optics focused on the people around him and reacted well to light, as far as Knockout could tell. Though, the optic they thought they lost was.. obviously not the same anymore.  
It had seemingly turned blue over the period he was out. A fault in the wiring perhaps, or maybe even energon pooling into the optic, he wasn’t sure. He’d have to examine it further, as soon as the seeker stopped being so paranoid and.. Oh dear.

Starscream went out like a light.  
All Knockout had to do was mention the end of the war, or rather remind the seeker of it, and he nearly shut down entirely. If the situation was different, maybe he’d even laugh at the sheer absurdity of it.  
Though right now he was more worried about waking Starscream once more. And so was Ratchet.  
The older medic pushed his way past Arcee, who was standing at the side of the medical berth, unsure of what she should do. Realizing it was best, she stepped back, making sure she was out of their way, but close enough if things got out of hand.  
That’s another thing Knockout didn’t quite understand.  
Why did they need her in the room? To defend them from an injured, unarmed bot? It was ridiculous, he thought while handling an injector.  
They could protect themselves just fine. Maybe it was an “enemy in my base” thing, or just a precaution, like the empty cylinder he had in his hands right now. Just in case things went wrong.  
Much to his relief though, they didn’t need to inject the seeker with anything.  
A few minutes later, he came to, grumbling and writhing on the cold, flat surface underneath him.  
“Starscream, please try to relax. For your own sake,” Knockout spoke firmly.  
“We have much to catch up on, but you must rest.”

Much to catch up on, huh?  
His awakening was a blurry memory now, even though it had merely been hours since then. That appeared to be a theme. He’d forget, and the medics had to remind him.  
Starscream hung his head, his whole being sagging in what he could only describe as a partially medically induced, defeated manner as he sat on a different, flat examination table in the corner of the same, odd room.  
The moment he was strong enough to walk again, Ratchet had ushered him to the table and hooked him up to various monitos. Monitors he remembered seeing in Knockout’s lab.  
Funny how he could remember things about a ship, but not how he’d gotten on Cybertron. Well, he had to admit, he’d been on that ship for what felt like millenia. It had been his home, his twisted safe haven. Funny how it was destroyed, much like everything else in his life.

His depressed pondering was interrupted by a sharp pain in his wing. He hissed softly, before then turning to look behind him. He was met with Knockout standing there with a needle pinched between his thumb and index finger, smiling smugly.  
“Looks like you haven’t lost sensation in any part of your.. new body,” the medic spoke.  
“Yes, certainly looks like it,” Starscream snarled back at him as he yanked his wing out of the doctor’s grasp.  
“Could you not bicker for five minutes?” Ratchet’s voice came from somewhere in front of him. It didn’t sound like a question, it was a demand disguised as one.  
Sure, the two of them had been rather rude while talking to each other, but it couldn’t possibly be that bad. Ratchet was an autobot after all. Surely his filthy peers were more annoying than two, respectful officers talking to one another.  
Starscream shortly came to the conclusion that it wasn’t worth it, and turned back around. Knockout, however, didn’t take the hint, and kept prodding all kinds of seams on his body, old and new. He decided to ignore it, for now.  
In front of him, Ratchet had his back to the two of them. He appeared to be observing one of the monitors. Were his functions really that interesting?  
“So, we’ve established you don’t remember arriving here,” he spoke, turning to face the seeker.  
“But what do you remember?”  
Starscream tilted his head upward, looking around the ceiling like it was hard for him to recall. Well, it was, at least to a certain extent.  
“I remember Cybertron before the war, the heinous things we did, the planets we traveled to, Megatron, killing Cliffjumper..”  
He couldn’t help but smile at the memory of snuffing an autobot’s life with his own hands.  
And he absolutely couldn’t help but let his gaze wander back down and lock with Ratchet’s, looking for any signs of anger in the old bot. Unfortunately, he didn’t give the seeker that satisfaction, but instead continued speaking.  
“Do you remember Shockwave’s arrival?”  
“Faintly, yes.”  
“What about the predacons?”  
“Predacons? We got you to kill them for us, of course. What of it?” Starscream asked, brows furrowing in irritation. Was he the one with memory problems, or was it Ratchet?  
“No, not those predacons. The other two.” Ratchet mirrored his frustration, and opted to press two digits against the space between his eyes.  
“The.. other two?”  
It was Starscream’s turn to be worried now. His wings lowered for a second, before bouncing back up in an angry display.  
“So Shockwave managed to create two more of those brutes?! And they’re still out there?!”  
“Yes,” Knockout replied from behind him, “we haven’t seen them since Megatron’s departure. We were hoping for you to lead us to his hidden base so we could stop him, but it seems you won’t be too.. useful in that.”  
He ended his sentence with a jab to another, relatively sensitive spot on Starscream’s back and declared he was done. The smug smile was audible in his voice.  
That was the final straw for Starscream. Before his anger could really bubble up to the surface, he got off the table, yanked the multitude of wires from his limbs and stormed out. He merely pretended not to hear Ratchet’s demands for him to come back.

The rest of the building was.. different when compared to the dingy coloring and still air of the med bay. The long hallway he burst into was a familiar, pale silver that reflected the light of the setting sun, which trickled in through a window at the other end of the corridor.  
It almost felt like home. His fiery wrath was almost immediately subdued by the sight.  
Slowly, curiosity took over, and he began carefully walking to the open doorway at the end of the hallway. He could hear faint voices at the other end, some of which he recognized as vehicon troops. This just made his curiosity steadily increase, and before he knew it, he’d left the corridor behind and entered a large room.  
His eyes immediately started to wander. The space was large enough for their voices to echo, even if it was slightly dampened by a few holes in the ceiling of the structure. A ceiling which was oddly sloped. It reminded him of a shallow dome.  
Cool, pink light spotted the silver floor like spotlights.. Wait, pink?  
Starscream squinted for a moment, consumed by a sudden wave of thoughts. Sunlight hadn’t been an organic pink before, right? But then again, much had changed. He decided to momentarily shrug it off.  
Standing in one of those spots was a tall, rather imposing purple autobot, idly talking to Bumblebee and some other, younger bot. He didn’t remember Bumblebee having a paint job dominated by black, or red accents for that matter. Well, at least the red looked good on him.  
Soon enough though, the tall autobot noticed him standing at the doorway, and promptly turned to face him, shortly followed by the other two by his side.  
“Starscream, I presume? Ratchet did not tell me you were up and about already,” he noted, voice as flat as Shockwave’s.  
“Yes, well, I left on my own accord. Where are the wash racks, if you don’t mind telling me?” Starscream replied rather bluntly.  
Instead of replying, the bot squinted and pursed his lips. It almost reminded him of Megatron when he was irritated. However, before he could say anything, Bumblebee spoke up.  
“Yeah, it’s the third door in that corridor to your left.”  
“Ah, thank you.” Starscream gave the young scout a quick nod, and walked past them toward the hallway he was directed to.  
“Red suits you quite well, Bumblebee,” he remarked as he walked by.  
“Red?”  
Starscream chose to ignore that little question as he slipped through the doorway.

The wash racks were much larger than Starscream had expected. Perhaps it was the deceptively small door leading to the two, divided rooms that made up the whole area that tricked him. The first room was a simple locker room with clinically white tiles and flickering, harsh lights buzzing above. Simple, silver lockers lined each wall, some of them cracked open slightly, while others remained firmly shut. It had to have been a recent addition to the building. It simply stuck out too much.  
The second room was the main event. It certainly was larger than his old, private washroom back on the Nemesis. It reminded him of the public ones the drones used, not that he’d ever been there of course. That would have been embarrassing.  
Pushing that rather humiliating thought to the side, the silver seeker crept further into the room, chose a secluded spot and turned the solvent spray on. It sputtered for a moment, before practically blasting the warm liquid at him.  
He let out a brief, pained hiss at that. He hadn’t really paid attention to the wounds on his body, but now they were lighting up in stinging, hot pain. Maybe getting clean wasn’t the best idea, especially just a few days after.. excessive reconstructive surgery, but at least it’d get the disgusting, sickly feeling off of him. At least, that's what he hoped.

Much to his surprise, he ended up spending quite a long time in the washroom. Once the pain melted away, it actually was kind of calming. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so relaxed.  
“And not because of the memory loss, either,” he spoke to no one in particular with a soft smile on his face.  
“Enjoy the shower?”  
A response wasn’t something he’d expected. He was under the impression he hadn’t been followed, but there he was.  
Knockout stood at the other end of the room, conveniently leaning against the wall behind the lockers. He’d been concealed rather well.  
“And what are you doing in here, doctor? Stalking me? How rude of you,” Starscream bluntly replied.  
“Oh, no. Quite the opposite. I came to check on you. You did leave in a bit of a hurry.” The medic flashed a grin, before approaching Starscream, who stood still and tense at the other end.  
“I’m alright, thank you very much.”  
“Doesn’t seem like it. You know, Bumblebee was concerned about you.”  
Knockout’s voice was laced with disgustingly sweet, yet fake concern. Or, was it really that fake? He couldn’t tell for sure. After all, that was the tone the vain doctor used while dealing with unwilling patients.  
“What? Oh no, let me guess. He thinks I’ve lost it because I complimented him. I thought we had a truce. Are compliments so out of character for me?” Starscream snarled, finally deciding to take a few, wobbly steps toward Knockout.  
“Yes, actually. I’m surprised you were nice to him,” Knockout replied. For a moment, he had a genuine look of confusion on his face, until he managed to wipe it off and continue.  
“First of all, they weren’t ready to see you like.. That.”  
“I know, horrible scars. Makes me look older,” Starscream interjected briefly.  
“No.. Frag, never mind. We’ll talk about your appearance later. You said Bee was red.”  
And? Starscream genuinely thought he looked good in red. What did Knockout have against that? Was he jealous?  
“He’s still black and _yellow _, not red. I can’t say for sure, but it looks like you’ve gone colorblind.”__  
Oh.  
Well. That explained a lot. And just when he thought his diagnosis, and day, couldn’t get worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as promised, starscream's vision;
> 
> his optics have obviously been damaged, and he indeed is colorblind now  
> he's got tritanopia, so he can't see blue or yellow anymore  
> and he's far sighted, which means the glasses are coming soon |ω・）  
>   
> post.. posting updates;  
> corrected some colors here and there. some of it might still be inaccurate to this kind of color blindness, it’s a new topic to me so apologies for that (・・;)


End file.
